Those seven days of calm and aid deliveries were required before the USA and Russian Federation could embark on a plan to cooperate in targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates working in Syria.
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United Nations humanitarian relief coordinator Stephen O’Brien said the convoy that was struck had planned to take aid to nearly 80,000 besieged Syrians.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the “last chance” to save the country.
Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area.
According to a us official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the summit, at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that will meet or exceed USA goals of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and lawful admission spots, and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment by 1 million.
Both Russia and Syria denied involvement; 20 civilians were killed and the United Nations suspended all aid deliveries pending a security review.
“We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance”, Mr Kirby said in a statement released after the Syrian declaration.
The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russian Federation ended Monday, as previously declared.
The US, Russia and other key players are to meet Tuesday in NY for talks on the process to end Syria’s devastating five-year conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions.
Russia’s military said it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Deir el-Zour air raid and more than 100 wounded.
“Well, the Syrians didn’t make the deal”, Kerry told reporters in NY on Monday. “The Russians made the agreement”.
Despite numerous violations by the government and Syrian rebels, the USA has few other options for ending a conflict that has killed a half-million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat. “We just began today to see real movement of humanitarian goods, and let’s see where we are”.
But Mr Kerry also acknowledged that the first stage of the truce – which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities – had never really come to fruition.
But it called on Russian Federation to clarify the Syrian statement.
The Russian Defense Ministry said there had been reports that elements from the so-called moderate Syrian opposition were merging with terrorists to carry out large-scale attacks against government forces.
“Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally”, Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy said in a televised briefing.
While acknowledging numerous violations, Kirby said the truce, which took effect last Monday, had been responsible for “a measure of reduced violence”. The U.N. Security Council also will take up the Syria crisis on Wednesday, though diplomats also have abandoned hopes of a passing a resolution to endorse the U.S.
The Prime Minister said the United Kingdom would co-operate with the investigation by the US-led coalition into the attack on Saturday near the eastern city of Deir el-Zour.
Officials said the strikes killed more than 60 soldiers.
The opposition reported on Monday 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers.
The ceasefire was meant to halt all fighting and allow aid to reach besieged areas, at a time when pro-government forces, with Russian and Iranian military support, are in their strongest positions for years and civilians in many rebel-held are completely cut off from food and medical supplies.
When Russia went to notify the US that it was striking Syrian troops, the USA point of contact was not immediately available, “not just literally sitting by the phone at that moment” and the message was a “little bit cryptic”, Thomas said.
In a Monday statement, the Danish military says it will cooperate fully with the coalition investigation into the airstrikes in eastern Syria on Saturday.
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes, which he said showed world powers supported “terrorist organizations” like IS.
